Microfluidic enabled beam scanning focal plane arrays

Author

Gheethan, Ahmad ; Guldiken, Rasim ; Mumcu, Gokhan

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

fYear

2013

fDate

7-13 July 2013

Firstpage

208

Lastpage

209

Abstract

A novel microfluidic enabled focal plane array (FPA) technology is introduced for the low-cost realization of high-gain beam-scanning Ka-band antennas. The proposed FPA is formed by interconnected microfluidic reservoirs and channels that are placed at the back surface of an extended hemispherical dielectric lens. Scanning is performed by moving the liquid metal antenna through the channels by utilizing a low loss dielectric solution and pumps. Therefore, the RF switching needs of the FPAs can be significantly reduced. This principle is demonstrated through an 8×1 30 GHz FPA capable of providing 7⁰ half power beamwidth over a beam scanning range of ±30⁰ without employing any RF switches.

Keywords

focal planes; lens antennas; microfluidics; microwave antenna arrays; microwave switches; scanning antennas; FPA technology; RF switches; hemispherical dielectric lens; high-gain beam-scanning Ka-band antenna; interconnected microfluidic reservoir; liquid metal antenna; low loss dielectric solution; microfluidic enabled beam scanning focal plane arrays; pumps; Feeds; Liquids; Metals; Microfluidics; Patch antennas; Radio frequency; Reservoirs;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium (APSURSI), 2013 IEEE

Conference_Location

Orlando, FL

ISSN

1522-3965

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-5315-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/APS.2013.6710765

Filename

6710765